Important To International Relations example essay topic

Why is studying history both important and contentious for International Relations? All ideas in the world "are both a product of history and a creator of history. Idea does not exist outside of the history of men and women" #. History is one of the most important concepts of our lives, those who disregard it are modern fools who tomorrow will forget the mistakes of yesterday, consequently never learning from them. "those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them". # In life we all grow and learn, much of that learning is through history from the smallest lesson of the correct way to eat ones dinner to the diplomat's detailed knowledge of another country, it's people and customs to avoid enmity.

Just as history is important in life it holds great significance in the study of International Relations and in this essay I intend to examine why. One of the key ideas in the study of IR is the pursuit of knowledge; knowledge of customs, people, their tastes, and values - in short their history why? because "knowledge is power". All knowledge is knowledge of history. IR aims to use this in order to not repeat the errors of the past. What is International Relations? There is no single definition as IR can mean different things to different people.

One might be International Relation's is: The study of World Politics. Particularly concentrating on how states and actors within a state communicate in order to maintain a peaceful co-existence in the world. International Relations is not only concerned with what is going on in the world but why. Historically the basic idea behind International Relations has always been to produce harmony between all humanity. Since time began the people of the world have been striving for peace, e.g. from ancient history where the Egyptians welcomed the foreign traders into their country because they brought goods and culture to their country to the treaty of Rome established in February of this year. It was only in the 20th century that IR developed it's own identity as an academic discipline of the social sciences.

IR emerged as an academic subject after the atrocities of the Great War, which was thought to be "the war to end all wars". In consequence to the shock and horror felt at that time people believed war was "the gravest problem facing humanity" #. They wanted more than anything to be at peace and the major powers of the world agreed that peace was their ultimate goal. "the causes of war, and the conditions of peace, was a phrase that symbolized International Relations in its early days"# The men we have to thank for International Relations as an academic discipline are Woodrow Wilson also president of the U.S. A and David Davies these men were also political scientists. David Davies (also liberal M.P. for Montgomeryshire and a key figure in the creation of 'The New Commonwealth Society' #) set up the first department of International Politics at Aberystwyth with Woodrow Wilson as Chairperson because they wanted the scholars to understand the affairs of the world and learn from the past so that they would be able to improve their future. People ask me what is International Relations and I have difficulty defining it in a few short moments instead I find myself inviting them to take a seat, as it is not simple. Many think it is current affairs.

However it is more than that it is not simply what happens in the world today or many years ago but how we understand it, how other individuals in other states understand it, why it happens and how the monumental errors of the past can be prevented in the future. This brings me back to the importance of history in the study of IR because our understanding of 'current affairs' would not be the same without history. We as human beings could not judge situations without their past. There is no present, no future without a past. Development can only come from learning and learning must have experience. History is important to International Relations however it's importance is also controversial.

What we consider to be historical fact will naturally be influenced by the individual who reported it. Consequently it is very easily manipulated for e.g. in order to believe a certain set of circumstances or to portray an event so that we as humans do not feel guilt or can pursue a particular course of action, we report the events of history so that it reflects well on us. For example I mentioned earlier the Great War. It became known as World War 1 because on the 9th of September 1939 the Second World War began - 19 years after the transformation of international relations. If one day earth were to be visited by aliens and they were given a time line of our history they would find it incomprehensible as it is not the norm for the evolution of a species to take two steps forward only to jump back a decade later. When considering International Relations simply as a discipline, it can be concluded that WWII did bring an improved, enlightened response compared with the post WWI politicians.

The end of the war in 1945 when the peace treaties were constructed, agreed upon and signed the negotiators were careful not to make the mistake of punishing a country for mistakes that could not be altered. Also in 1945 the United Nations was born. The major powers of Europe got together and learned from the past. Their reputation may have become sullied in recent years but at that time the people of Europe knew they had to come together in order to reach their common goal of a peaceful co-existence.

This is a perfect example of where past mistakes have been learned from and improvements have been made. When considering an event such as WWII all International Relation students must consider all angles of a story. In particular, they must be aware that each state, each individual will view the facts and the history differently; because as humans we cannot help the fact that emotion and personal experience influences us in some way. (even though this may be completely unintentional). Reflection is a key factor in the study of International Relations. Reflection not only of the past; meaning 100 or 1,000 years ago or the Peace Treaty of Westphalia (the end of the 30 year war between the Catholics and Protestants of Europe) but also of yesterday's newspaper article. We must ask what did it say? who wrote it?

Are there other views of this? Past must always be reflected upon with an open mind. Bias is a very easy feature to forget when reading a book or an article reporting the past. For the reason that I mentioned earlier. Human beings are the ones re-telling the past and they cannot do this without altering it in some form. There is also the reflection of why we are even studying International Relations and thus studying it's history, this is a point which is essentially important because one should never lose track of why!

Initially I have found it more difficult for me to find what is contentious about studying history in the study of IR. The situation in Northern Ireland does, however illustrate the inherent danger in dwelling in the past. At this critical juncture, where lasting peace is in the balance, it is easy to see that the time spent reflecting on their own history - particularly with regard to past battles and old wounds, only partially healed, is time wasted. Instead time spent on establishing shared hopes for the future would be time well spent.

Perhaps though Martin Luther King summed up my view of International Relations best "I had (past tense) a Dream ".